


Fēntáo

by Musta_aurinko



Category: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic
Genre: Fluff, M/M, au where judar has to do actual work, prince and palace gardener au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-12 21:04:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21482839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Musta_aurinko/pseuds/Musta_aurinko
Summary: Hakuryuu just had to see for himself. He felt stupid about it but couldn’t forget the smirk the boy had given, or the way his bangs fell over his forehead, or the slightly panicked stare Hakuryuu had received from him.An AU where Hakuryuu is a prince and Judar works in the palace gardens.
Relationships: Judal | Judar/Ren Hakuryuu
Comments: 5
Kudos: 31





	Fēntáo

**Author's Note:**

> this is a bit of a role-reversal thing as hakuryuu is the one chasing after judar first.... so sorry if it's too ooc :v

The imperial palace had a huge garden. It had been taken care of by the same head gardener for as long as Hakuryuu could remember. Some of his earliest and fondest childhood memories are of him and his family relaxing in said garden. That was years ago, however. The gardener was old, and Hakuryuu was not surprised when he learned that new, younger apprentices had been employed. They would learn how to take care of the imperial gardens and eventually take over the responsibility of managing them. 

As a prince, Hakuryuu didn’t exactly hang around with the servants or any other palace workers for fun. He didn’t have the habit of hanging around in the gardens anymore either. The apprentices had already been working there for months before he finally caught a glimpse of them. Three young men: one a tall red-head, one shorter and sturdier, and the third one... had a ridiculously long braid and a smirk on his face as he seemed to be teasing his co-workers. Hakuryuu stopped to stare at them, forgetting where he was walking towards for a moment. As if sensing his gaze, all three went silent and turned their attention up to where he was standing on a veranda. Hakuryuu quickly turned away and left. 

~ 

_Thump_. Hakuryuu was suddenly hit with a bag of soil as someone bumped to his side. 

“Oops, sorry about thaaaaaaaaa... I mean-” the long-braided boy had a surprised look on his face as he noticed just who he had bumped into. He quickly caught himself and bowed, “Your Highness.” 

Hakuryuu stared at him for a while until he nodded, and the gardener took that as a permission to continue with his tasks. He could feel the prince staring after him and felt really awkward. He was already several meters away when he heard: “What is your name?” 

He turned back with a confused look. “... Judar?” 

The prince nodded again and went on his way. Now Judar felt awkward _and_ perplexed. 

“They won’t fire you for bumping into someone, right? They wouldn’t be that unreasonable...” Judar asked his co-workers as he reached them, carrying his bag of soil. 

“What do you mean? Who did you bump into?” the shorter one asked. 

“The youngest prince. He asked for my name before letting me leave and stared a lot.” 

“Uh-oh”, the two other boys said in unison, with genuinely terrified expressions. “Why on Earth would he need your name in that situation? Or why did he need to ask you? He could have asked from our supervisor if he had a complaint... or maybe he wanted to gloat at you? Let you know hah, you're in trouble now! He really is scary, remember that chilling glare he gave us earlier when--” the two kept rambling away. 

Judar shrugged and went back to work. It couldn’t be helped either way. 

~ 

No one knew a lot about Judar, no matter how much Hakuryuu tried asking around. He was from a small village in the north, and that was it. No idea about any family or relatives, if he had ever gone to any school, or if he had had previous places of employment. He didn’t seem to have many possessions, nor did he ever have any visitors. What he did hear about though, was Judar’s personality. Everyone described him as someone who was funny, sure, but also a huge pain in the ass. He was surprisingly picky for someone who didn’t seem to be wealthy at all, and he apparently spent a lot of time complaining about anything. Also, there was no way you could escape his teasing. 

Dismissing these warnings, Hakuryuu just had to see for himself. He felt stupid about it but couldn’t forget the smirk the boy had given to his co-workers, or the way his bangs fell over his forehead, or the slightly panicked stare Hakuryuu had received during the collision incident. 

So Hakuryuu started hanging around the gardens, reading or drinking tea or just walking around. And he ran into that Judar very often, always trying to discreetly observe him. 

The three apprentices did, however, immediately notice the change. _What the hell are you doing in here now?_ Judar thought as he tried to work while feeling awfully distracted. _Are you trying to intimidate me? Is this a challenge? To see if I would mess up again so you’ll have an excuse to kick me out? Haha, think again! That soil-bag thing was _one time_. I am perfect at what I do! The best! There’s no way you’ll catch me!_ Judar felt smug and determined.

So, he was working extra-efficiently with extra-precise and extra-style of course, making sure he’d always look absolutely flawless and perfect no matter what his task was. Unfortunately, the prince kept observing him. He was a difficult enemy to crush for sure. 

Although, Judar did notice that Hakuryuu wasn’t quite as he had thought. He was actually polite when addressing the workers around. Sometimes he’d make a bit of small talk. And one day, he approached Judar. _What is it now, what threatening words are you going to--_

“I haven’t seen that red eye shadow on you before. Is it new? It looks very pretty.” 

Definitely not what Judar had expected. 

~ 

It was so, so stupid. Hakuryuu knew it and he wouldn’t stop reminding himself about just how much of a stupid idea this whole thing was. Hakuryuu was a prince of the empire. A member of the royal family. He had high status, as high as it could possibly be without being the emperor or the crown prince. And Judar was a no-name, no-family servant of the palace. And yet... 

In what had become an everyday occurrence, Hakuryuu relaxed in the gardens as Judar stopped by. “Good morning to His Highness”, he said. Respectful words as they should be, but his tone was inappropriate. Too casual and playful, teasing even. Hakuryuu didn’t mind it though. “Good morning, Judar”, he smiled. 

Judar’s suspicions of Hakuryuu’s intentions had melted away pretty quickly as soon as Hakuryuu had started talking to him. He’d ask about Judar’s day, tell about his own, compliment Judar and indulge in casual conversations. And Judar went along with it gladly. It was fun, but he knew it was a dangerous game. Many young men would come to the palace, paint their faces and attempt to seduce a more powerful man for easy climbing up in hierarchy. That was not Judar’s intention in the palace, even when he did enjoy make up and jewellery. Being in such a position was risky; falling out of the favour of that powerful man could mean one’s doom. 

That being said, Hakuryuu was easily the most beautiful man Judar had ever seen and having gained his attention was flattering. Besides, Hakuryuu let him have his fun and be a bit more casual even in his presence. In fact, he seemed to even enjoy Judar’s jokes sometimes. Judar could also laze around a bit and avoid work, which was a big plus. It was all very comfortable and not something that Judar would want to give up. 

“Are you asking me for advice?” Judar asked after listening to Hakuryuu’s story. Some nobles were being annoying in negotiations. 

“Not really, but let’s hear it.” 

“You’re a prince. Tell them to fuck off and do what you want!” 

Hakuryuu snorted. “You’d end up making many enemies with that attitude, you know?” 

“I do know, actually”, Judar said and grinned as if he was proud of being an annoyance. He probably was. Hakuryuu laughed a bit at this. When hearing it, Judar felt oddly happy. 

~ 

On a night with a full moon, Judar was deep in thought. It’s not like Hakuryuu was some gross old noble thirsting after a young girl or boy to add to his harem. In fact, Hakuryuu was two years younger than Judar, he had learned. And Hakuryuu wasn’t being gross at all. He was polite and refined and genuinely interested in learning more about Judar’s opinions and thoughts. 

At first, Judar had taken the whole thing as a game. It’s too bad that the more Judar learned about Hakuryuu, the clearer it became that Hakuryuu was exactly his type. Now, that would’ve be all fine and good if Hakuryuu wasn’t an imperial prince. Judar might have been a commoner, but he still had pride. And he would not submit to becoming anyone’s plaything or concubine. 

~ 

“To be completely honest, I couldn’t care less about this gardening shit”, Judar said while leaning his chin on the handle of a shovel. 

“Really? I find it to be an interesting subject”, the prince confessed. He could always read about plants and biology from books (which he does) but that’s different from actually working with them in practice. 

“Maybe you should be the gardener and I should be the prince”, Judar grinned at him. “I could just laze around every day on a huge bed and do nothing while servants tend to my every need!” 

“Being a prince actually comes with a lot of work and studying. It’s a big responsibility. You would never survive it”, Hakuryuu said with a serious voice. He didn’t mean it in an offensive way, though, and hoped that Judar wouldn’t take it as such. And apparently he didn’t, as he only laughed at Hakuryuu’s comment. 

“How did you end up in here, then?” Hakuryuu asked. 

“By chance really. It was a good offer. It’s not like I have anywhere I’m expected to be, ever.” 

“You don’t have any family?” Hakuryuu wasn’t sure if it was safe to ask about this. 

“Some cousins and aunts. But it’s not like they’d wanna see me slacking off in their houses forever”, Judar said, and didn’t seem bothered by Hakuryuu’s inquiry. So that’s how it was, there were expectations for a grown man, no matter how mischievous or lazy he might be. 

“I couldn’t imagine a life without my brothers and sister”, Hakuryuu admitted. 

“And I couldn’t imagine having any siblings. I’m used to always doing things on my own.” 

They were different in many ways, opposites even, Hakuryuu noticed. 

~ 

In the garden, there were many peach trees. They had quickly been established as Judar’s territory among the gardeners, as Judar seemed to love peaches to a ridiculous extent. Like on many other days, Judar was having a peach snack when once again, his favourite royal showed up. 

“Don’t eat all of the peaches, you might get in trouble for that”, Hakuryuu warned him, although he was mostly just teasing him. 

Suddenly Judar was feeling very daring, so he held out his half-eaten peach. “Want some?” 

Judar’s two garden companions saw this and were absolutely mortified. They thought Judar had been lucky to avoid consequences earlier, but there was no way he was going to get away with something that insulting. 

And Hakuryuu did look very surprised for a moment. Still, he ended up accepting the peach and took a bite out of it. A shocking sight to anyone who witnessed it, but Judar felt a soft smile spreading on his face. Hakuryuu answered to it with one of his own. 

Maybe this shamelessness was what encouraged Hakuryuu to finally ask something he had wanted to since the very beginning. When it was late and there was no-one else around, Hakuryuu asked if he could touch Judar’s hair. A permission was granted (_“I mean you could do it anyways if you felt like it, you’re a prince, hahaha”_) and the black locks were just as soft as they looked. And if Hakuryuu’s hand lingered by Judar’s cheek a bit longer than was appropriate, neither of them mentioned it. 

~ 

Over the course of seven or so months Hakuryuu and Judar had talked and laughed together and got to know each other better. Hakuryuu couldn’t believe the behaviour he had accepted from a _palace worker_ and couldn’t believe the lows he himself had sunk to while indulging in such inappropriateness. It wasn’t fit for his status and he had been taught better, but it was a temptation he couldn’t resist. 

Hakuryuu knew what he felt. He had felt it for a girl before. But there was something else to it as well, something that Hakuryuu thought was better to be expressed to the target of these feeling directly. 

Winter had finally arrived, and new snow covered the ground. Most work in the gardens was over for this year; now the most taxing job was to clear the paths of piles of snow. It was near midnight when Hakuryuu ventured outdoors in search of Judar. He found him near the garden gates. 

“What are you doing here at this hour?” Hakuryuu asked, not expecting to find him so soon. 

“Better question, what are you?” came the snarky reply. “There’s no way I’m going to bed this early. Besides, the new snow and the moonlight. It looks nice.” 

It didn’t look just nice. It looked absolutely stunning. The snow worked wonders in improving any kind of view. 

“So?” Judar was still waiting Hakuryuu for an answer. 

“... I was looking for you, actually.” 

Judar turned to face Hakuryuu, waiting for him to say whatever it was he had planned to. But right now, Hakuryuu found it difficult to bring the topic up. 

“There’s something I wanted to tell you. Something I should’ve said a long time ago. Sorry for keeping it from you this long, I never wanted to give the wrong impression. 

“I’m sure it’s clear to you what I’ve been doing. I just wanted to say that... there’s no power imbalance. You don’t have to agree to anything. I really... I see us as equals.” 

Judar didn’t really say anything to that or even look at Hakuryuu’s face anymore. Who knows what was so interesting about Hakuryuu’s shoes to warrant such intense staring. Hakuryuu’s gaze shifted target as well. 

“I like you. I want to take you to see the lake, and to the city to watch the fireworks. But it must be so that you also wish to stand there with me, on that same ground. So...” Hakuryuu’s eyes returned to Judar. 

Round-eyed, mouth-slightly-agape, red-as-a-tomato Judar stared back at him. “Hakuryuuuuuuuuuuuu...” the other started whining. 

“What kind of reaction is that?!” 

“And here I thought you were trying to lure me into your 600-concubine strong harem!” 

“My what?!!” 

Judar started laughing. Eventually Hakuryuu couldn’t help but join in just a bit. 

“Rightrightright... In all honesty”, Judar finally said while trying to keep his voice even and not slip back to giggles, “I am, really glad to hear that.” Hakuryuu felt a hopeful squeeze in his heart. 

“It would really suck if the person I liked didn’t see how we were clearly meant to stand to together, just the two of us, rest of the world be damned”, Judar was grinning happily. “Good thing he’s such a gentleman, smart and handsome and strong-” 

“Alright you can stop with the teasing now!” It was Hakuryuu’s turn to be flustered. He tried to cover Judar's mouth with his hand. 

“Teasing? I was being serious!” 

After that, Hakuryuu did just as he promised and invited Judar to his entourage in the palace. It became very clear very quickly that Judar got special treatment from Hakuryuu, who insisted the servants treat him with the same respect as one would a high-class man. Hakuryuu taught Judar to read and write, but while Judar learned to read on an acceptable level, he always struggled with writing the correct characters. Judar was not a scholarly type at all, and the lessons were a real pain for him as he’d get distracted easily. This ruined the many plans Hakuryuu had had for the kinds of official positions he could put Judar in. Still, Judar was a quick learner who adapted to the court life with relative ease, even when he got a bit of a reputation for his slightly impolite attitude. 

Judar would finally find something exciting to do in the palace when the research into the largely unknown art of magic was officially organized. To Hakuryuu and honestly everyone else’s surprise, Judar was a genius at it. A total prodigy. Too bad he had little interest in the academic side of it. Nevertheless, the magician known as “Black Sun” became a respected figure in the empire. 

None of that was really important, though. Hakuryuu was happy that Judar could find a place for himself in the world, but Judar was happier about the fact that he got to work together with and help Hakuryuu. And as they rushed together through the gardens to see the fireworks from atop a hill, they both agreed that being able to share their lives with each other was what really mattered to them the most.

**Author's Note:**

> hakuryuu: so what was that about 600 concubines?  
judar: you don't know the rumors about you?  
hakuryuu: wHAT
> 
> how's that for a sappy ending (〃´∀｀) the peach thing is a reference to the ancient chinese story of Mizi Xia and Duke Ling of Wei. Mizi Xia was a male lover of the duke and offered him a half-eaten peach, which he accepted as he was so in love, even when it was a rude thing to do. that story didn't end well for Mizi Xia tho... but "halved peach" (分桃) became a term referring to homosexuality in traditional chinese literature. that's also what the title means.


End file.
